1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft navigation and to displaying information for aircraft navigation. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to displaying information identifying various characteristics of a fix for an aircraft to an operator of the aircraft.
2. Background
In position fixing navigation, a fix is a position derived from measuring external reference points. A fix also may be referred to as a positional fix. The term is generally used with reference to manual or visual techniques for identifying the position of a vehicle. For example, a fix may be identified using intersecting visual or radio position lines.
A visual fix may be made using a sighting device with a bearing indicator. Two or more objects of known position may be sighted from a vehicle using the device and the bearings recorded. Bearing lines then may be plotted on a chart through the locations of the sighted objects. The intersection of these bearing lines indicates the current position of the vehicle.
Radio frequency signals may be used to identify a fix indicating a geographic location of an aircraft. For example, very high frequency, VHF, omnidirectional range, VOR, is an example of a type of radio navigation system for aircraft. This system enables the pilot of an aircraft to determine the current position of the aircraft and to stay on course using radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed ground radio beacons and received by a receiver unit on the aircraft.
For conventional aircraft navigation, in instrument conditions, it may be desirable to identify fixes for an aircraft using instruments tuned to ground-based navigational aids transmitting radio navigation signals. Therefore, systems for providing fix information supporting conventional navigation using such ground-based navigational aids may be desirable.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a method and apparatus that takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above as well as possibly other issues.